Thicker than Blood [Epic]

[Madame Loki]

Chapter 1: The Family That Preys Together

Deep within the Land Of Tea, rests a place that seemed to be separate from the rest of the world. Few ventured into the area unannounced and even fewer leave. The area is hidden away from public view, by a thin layer of magic. Beings with eyes such as the Byakugan and Sharigan, can peer through this barrier and see it's magic nature. Once you pass over to the other side, what appears to be a sheer mountain cliff side, disappears and reveals a lush jungle. Within this jungle there is the light of a rather impressive city towards it's center[picture]. You can hear the hustle and bustle of the people that moved through the town. It seemed that humans dwell behind this magic barrier. However, there is a much darker force present here, that truly run this large hidden city.

The people who live here know they are nothing more than servants of the ruling family that watches them. This is the domain of the Eztli Family. It is a large family ruled over my a single mother and her children. The exact number of them is unknown as they all have not been seen one place at a time, but it's not hard to tell them apart from the normal populace. Due to recent events their numbers will soon decease. The Matriarch of the Eztli, and ruler of the city, died some what abruptly about a month ago, with no clear heir to her expansive kingdom. Because of this her children have been at constant odds with each other over the pass few weeks. Some of the children fight for themselves to obtain the rightful ownership of the land. Other's fight for survival. However, there is a group of 12 , that fight for two reasons. To rid their family name of the weaklings that dwell in it, and to make sure the strongest of their siblings take the place of their mother as ruler of the land.

This 13th sibling commands the 12 as they search the city at night for their weaker, or insubordinate siblings. The citizens of the city can do nothing but watch the chaos and destruction of this internal struggle, and try their best to stay out of it. The infighting threatens not only to tear the Eztli family apart, but expose the hidden city itself. The fighting between siblings, have lead to strange rumors from the outside world. In the pass month strange lights, and power fluctuation have been spotted, as well as several reports of dragons in the area at night. Locals have been warned to avoid the area during the evening, as all who have entered the general area of the disturbances have not returned.

Time: 5:30PM ;Dusk

Moon

[Moon]

Moon Slaying World. The blade of prophecy, weighing him down. Dragon Spat Angrily. The blade of chaos, stolen from the Planesnest, tainted yet pure. Hell-Eating Fang. The blade of his freedom, a gift from his sister's own hands. He carried all, including his usual bevy of secondary items and explosives, his gear and clothing rather simple considering the environment.

He had heard rumors, all seeming to stem from a central location in the Land of Tea, and these rumors all spoke of Dragons. His people. Those he had been told were scattered throughout the lands of men and nearly hunted to extinction -- the lies, even in his memory, soured his mood with temporary rage.

He'd flown in from Nagi Island before making his way to Ouzu. He did not expect to find the city.

Hidden like the proverbial diamond in the rough, its technology and architecture, its brightness, seemed as if it should be impossible to conceal. But it peeked out suddenly, a rogue monolith, towering over empty streets in the neon glow cast by its many lights. Warmth fractured in the setting afternoon sun. Go walked roads that were devoid of living beings - even animals and insects did not seem to populate this mysterious place. He spent several minutes merely searching for others, wandering past one district or another, feeling a tension rattle through the air.

He kept his eyes open for signs of danger, though so far, he'd only heard far off cries and shouts that died as quickly as they rose. If there were Dragons in the area, he was expecting more explosions, more loud boasting, more sweeping currents of air from the beating of mighty wings. This city was strangely quiet, and the more unsettled he became, the more his nervousness fed his courage.

"WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYBODY?!?!?!?

He yelled, awaiting the echo of his voice off of the many buildings, and for the signs of activity.

[Madame Loki]

"Trying to survive you Idiot!!!" A voice whispered loudly as a head poked through a window. Another voice sounded out another window and then said, "Oh crap, it's another outsider. Dammit, why the hell did he have to come here. Shoo go away... before you get this whole area destroyed." The two voices then stopped as they closed their windows. The sounds of explosions and screaming could be heard from deeper within the city, to the west. If her looked over towards the northern end of the city he would see what looked to be a grand castle, built into the side of the mountain. There was a Large crystal floating over it's structure, and a light that shined from it, that stretched out over the city. This was obviously the source of the powerful illusion caste over area.

The longer he remained in the position the further the sounds of the explosions and scream would go. This was but the start of things to come, night had went to fall and the culling had not truly gone into full effect.

[Moon]

As a head poked through a window to yell in a raspy tone, Go made the Seal of Confrontation, his Byakugan focusing suddenly, chakra-enhanced sight peering through the very walls of the building. He would see the exact positions of every living being with a chakra system, tracking their movement behind closed doors and in still rooms, waiting out the destruction. He approached the building from whence the voice came without searching for the source of the noise, keeping in mind the frustration inherent in the mention of outsiders. So there are others who heard tale of Dragons and decided to see for themselves. He launched himself upwards, nearly half the height of the building in a single leap, chakra at his feet allowing him to ascend the vertical surface with a few bounds, reaching its top and peering out. He stared at his surroundings with the power of his sightcurse. He marveled at the strangeness.

Towards the northern end of the city was a grand castle, built into the face of a mountain. Over this castle, was a thing that reflected chakra in awkward waves of light, that spewed forth the energetic shell coating the city, layering it away from the sight of others.

With a sound like flesh being torn, his wings would emerge from his back, lifting him in a large throwing of air up, into the sky. He climbed brief thermals, gathering height, before angling northward, swooping low to catch the drifts of wind current that allowed him to do the least work. He flew towards what seemed like a strange crystal, towards what he hoped was more than merely the core of this city's barrier, but perhaps also this talk of Dragons.

Provided he was not interrupted along the way, he would head straight for the crystal and the castle, taking a mental note of the city as it stretched out beneath him. If he saw anything even remotely resembling a dragon, he would stop and investigate before carrying on, though he was high enough now that only other airborne beings would likely be able to detect him. If someone were to need assistance attempting to escape some violence or danger, he would stop as well.

[Madame Loki]

Chapter 2: A Not So Grand Entrance!!!

The large Dragonkin decided to take to the skied rather than stay on in the area he was,, much to the delight of the locals you sought nothing more than to ride out the night, and hope that the conflict soon ended so that their nights could go back to normal. As he flew closer to towards the Crystal and Castle, he would notice that the fight in if it could be called that in the distances was getting louder in more fierce. Could be able to see the explosions of not only fire, but what appeared to be... Ice? just then several very powerful explosions took place as pillar of ice exploded into the sky. They was a followed immediately by a fiery explosive, and a loud roar.

The ice pillar itself was so large that it towered over the largest building in it's area. The explosion that followed was almost as large, thankfully the Ice Pillar absorbed the bulk of the explosion. When it explode at bright flash of chakra flashed through the area, that would blind the Hyuuga. The echoing was the massive explosive and the turbulent wind it produced would take all he had to main his altitude and balance in the air. As he braced himself the echoing of the explosion would subside but the winds were still there, but the sound of the explosions was replaced by something else.

"SOMEONE STUPID GET IN MY WAY!!!!" The sound of a tiny voice echoed through the sky, as a tiny missile of a person collided into Go-Go. The two of them would spiral into the ground, and land on a bridge near by, no worse for ware. When he got his baring, there would be a small women sitting on his chest, she couldn't be taller that 4'10. She looked up into the air as the flakes of the ice pillar fell down around them. She had yellow eyes, and purple hair, with what appeared to be a strange markings going across her forehead. She lifted up one of her fingers catching one of the flakes on her finger tip before brushing it across her tongue. She smiled brightly at Go, "Thanks stupid..." She had a rather youthful appearance, looking to be in her early teens at most. She had dark skin, similar to that of Go's. She wore a rather short backless dress, it was fairly revealing for someone her age, so perhaps she was older than she initially appeared. Though the pompoms on her platform heels, leaned itself to her being younger. She was a very... confusing individual.

SPOILER: Click to show

Color code for myself

8e61ff

[Moon]

And then he heard it.

A roaring, great and powerful, serpentine, accompanied by a clash of ice and fire so brilliant that their explosive interaction momentarily blinded the section of his vision taking in the violence. This. This was the sign of dragons. The force of the pillar of ice exploding threw the wind like a javelin, enclosed him in swells of air pressure his wings struggled to balance. He lowered his flight path, banking into a jerky corkscrew descent that rolled him beneath the bulk of the catastrophic turbulence, then lifted him once he sunk into a low thermal, shooting him skyward yet again, riding the wind in a high arc.

"SOMEONE STUPID GET IN MY WAY!!!!!"

Nani?

--crunch--

For an instant, he thought someone was shooting an actual missile at him. The surprise of the tiny echoing voice made him search for a source, but his collision with that source came as such a shock that his Byakugan deactivated. He collapsed with the strange figure, now recognizable as a humanoid, then a female, landing on a blood red bridge being slowly covered by out of place snowfall.

"Thanks stupid..."

A dark skinned girl with eyes the same bright gold as his own spoke to him with a youthful smile. He smiled back, chuckling a bit.

"Glad to be of service, young Madame. Are you alright?"

He would look back towards the crystal, towards the quietly settling clash that had blown them together. Upon hearing her reply, he would continue,

"Did you come from the direction of all that fire and ice? Do you know what's going on?"

He would then slap himself in the head sharply, before extending his hand for a hearty shake, possibly lifting her entire body off of the ground with the motion as he did so.

"Pardon my manners, of course. I'm Go."

[Madame Loki]

"Yeah I'm cool?" She stayed sitting on his chest as she looked over towards the direction of the destruction. Sighing she began, "Yeah I was trying to gt my bro-." She stopped mid sentence and looked over towards Go. That guy had wings. Her eyes scanned over him, he was huge, well muscled, yellow eyes, dark skinned. She jutted her head forward her face only inches away from his own. As she looked up at his forehead for some reason. She then pulled back saying, "Ok...weird. You look like us, but aren't... us. Anyway you're clearly not from here." She rubbed this back of her head, "I was trying to get my brothers to stop fighting, and to work together, but it devolved into... well that!" She pointed over to the continued clashing of fire and ice, and she simply she groaned.

"They're all idiots.... epp!" She felt her body being lifted into the air as Go moved to give her a hand shake. She reached out to shake it, and smiled at him, "Well Go, I'm Huitzilin, Zil or Zilly for short. And you picked a real shitty time to stumble into here... so... what exactly are you?" Zil was quite interested in the boy now. He wasn't related to anything that was going on here, but it wasn't human either. If someone like him existed in the city before, they would have known about him. Some of her siblings probably would have tried to kill him, while others try and make him a personal slave. He was an oddity, that was to be sure, though from his point of view, everything here must seem strange.

[Moon]

He noticed the girl's attention to his features - she could see their similarities, no doubt, and only inches from his own face, his cheeks turned red and he grew flustered. A conflict between brothers. Dragons in human form? He was uncertain what it was she wanted her brothers to work together for, but he let the curiosity subside along with her introduced herself. Her touch felt soft and warm.

"Well Go, I'm Huitzilin, Zil or Zilly for short. And you picked a real shitty time to stumble into here... so... what exactly are you?"

He pondered her question a moment, actually unsure of how to answer. No one had ever asked him such a thing, and his knowledge of what he was had been expanded recently. But try as he might to vocalize just what he was, he felt compelled to return to the answer he had been taught to give.

"I am a Dragon, Zilly."

He said simply, noting the cross like pattern across her forehead and studying it in much the same fashion as she had done to him. Her eye color was deeper than his own, and their was something bestial in their glowering, something definitely snake like in what could be fathomed of her gaze. He then looked towards the continuing clash of elements in the distance; brilliant splash of fire burrowing through a glacier, a storm of heat, a blizzard. Your brothers, eh.

"What exactly are you?"

[Madame Loki]

Zil raised an eyebrow at Go when he said that he was a dragon. He did have wings, and was rather... large. She shrugged and then went with it. He was a dragon sure. When he asked what she was, and smiled at him and said, "More or less a Dragon. People in this plan call us Quetzalcoatl, but we're serpents with wings that have varying forms of magic. Pretty much a Dragon." Zil finally stood up and looked over as two of her brothers continued to fight. She groaned, as it didn't look like they were going to stop anytime soon. Just then the sounds of a clock echoed, through the area. Zil's face almost went pale as her eyes widened, "Dammit it's 6 already? Shit!" She looked over at Go, and began walked off the bridge heading away from the castle.

"I suggest you follow me, if you want to live. We got about 5 mins before shit hits the fan." Zil said as she quickly ducked around the corner, her tiny voice echoing from the alley, "The culling will be starting in like two seconds. Best get off the streets." If Go's eyes could peer that far on the cliff some 500 meters away, there was a group of 12 individuals over looking the city. These figures would all have overwhelming power flowing from them, but one in particular would stand out from the rest, it was like a fount of endless power radiating from this individual. If her turned the corner with Zil he would see her heading into a wall, with seemingly no door.

[Moon]

She seemed nonplussed by his admission of species, and he was glad to see that she did not greet him with the immediate fear or hatred that had become typical of humans - though the reason why soon after revealed itself. She was

"More or less a Dragon. People on this plane call us Quetzalcoatl, but we're serpents with wings that have varying forms of magic. Pretty much a Dragon."

It was so matter-of-fact that he laughed despite the tension of the situation. She was so free, this Zilly; free to be whatever she was. He had only heard the word Quetzalcoatl a few times before, though in Draconic, khett'zuhlkko'wateel was a phrase used to describe particularly rebellious Dragon teenagers. Go had known many like this growing up, and shook his head briefly while recalling it. The fight continued in the distance, and there was something like a look of recognition in the girl's face.

He was not certain how the time related to their predicament, and he could not see off into that great distance holding what was sure to be gathered trouble at the top of a cliff. Follow her? Of course he would; moving silently beside her hoping to make their way towards whatever was causing the brilliant displays of chakra. He wondered if the crystal itself were important, if its enormous structure and subsequent shattering had any bearing on what sounded like a surely escalating clash - but he did not share these thoughts as they walked. He would attempt to heed her advice regarding staying off of the streets.

He could not shake the feeling that he needed a better vantage point, and his wings shuddered through wind, lifting him in a sweep of debris. He assumed she would have no objection to flight, as it was what she seemed to be doing prior their collision anyway. Eyes open and on the lookout for anything that might reveal more information, he would ask a simple question that he hoped didn't have a gruesome answer.

"What is the 'Culling'?"

[Madame Loki]

When he attempted to fly off into the sky, he would feel a small but power hand around his ankle. It was Zilly, standing there not allowing him to go any higher, "Hey dum dum... don't fly, they'll see you. Get down here." She gently pulled his large body back down towards the ground as she shook her head. This shouldn't be too surprising, after all this was just her human form even though she was small in it, and small in general when compared to her siblings, she would still tower over the building that she was heading into. She walked up to a brick wall, and pressed a series of the bricks. Each one sunk in before a door opened up. She walked into what looked like a tunnel and motioned for Go to follow her.

Once they got inside of the tunnel she would begin to answer his question, "The culling is... -sigh- exactly what it sounds like. My eldest brother and 11 of the my strongest siblings who are loyal to him, go around looking for any of my mother's children they deem weak, or who refuse to acknowledge my eldest brother as the rightful heir of this place. This all happened a couple of months ago, when our mother, the person who ruled over this land, for thousands of years died. They start at 6 every night. They don't attack during the day because, well the humans are are source of income, and trade, they need to work without distraction, plus, it's more difficult to see the energy at spills out of the barrier at night. All my siblings human forms look about the same, and we all have this cross pattern on our foreheads. You don't have it, but you look enough like one of us, that they'd kill without question, believing you to be one of the children trying to disguise your self. They'd give you a cowards death."

Zilly looked over her should at Go, "Like I said... you picked a shit time to stumble into this place." She rubbed the back of her head, "We're almost there, come one."

[Moon]

Feeling the monstrous strength Zilly possessed as she pulled him back down from lifting into the air, he grew even more partial to her peculiarities and manner. Pressing a series of bricks on the wall of a nondescript building; it shuddered in response, the bricks rearranging themselves, folding out of place, opening. They became a door, and Go whistled appreciatively at the magic. It led to a tunnel, and as he was motioned forward by the young Quetzalcoatl, he listened to her explanation of the culling in stunned silence.

It was...so similar to how things were on the Planesnest. So similar to the infighting of his own brothers and sisters, the near endless hoarde of dragonkin abominations comprising the Satoru Tribe. Though she moved past the subject quickly, it did not take much for him to piece together what seemed most important about her explanation.

"You just...lost your mother. You have my condolences. That is no easy thing."

He bowed at the waist respectfully, before continuing.

"It sounds like all we have to do is defeat this Elder Brother of yours. If he is the strongest, and we defeat him in front of the others, they should surely back down, right?"

He kept his eyes open in the darkness, even the third, and as Zilly looked at him, he would extend his right hand into a claw, quickly scarring his own forehead with several cross-like patterns identical to her own.

"That way, there will be no confusion."

Go assumed they were moving towards the disturbance, though the deeper they got into the tunnel, the more its sounds would be muffled.

"Is there anything you can tell me about his power or abilities? Is he prideful enough to accept a direct challenge? Will the others interfere? Do they respect him, do they fear him? And also, more importantly..."

He paused, taking careful measured steps forward, crouching to fit his frame into the tunnels narrowness, face a touch more grim than before.

"If you die in human form, do you revert back to your true form?"

A plan was already beginning to come together in his mind.

[Madame Loki]

"No it is not. Especially when you're the youngest in the family of Monsters... and you were your mother's favorite." Zilly said with a sad smile on her face. Of all her siblings she was by far the one in the most... precarious position. Zilly looked back at Go and started to laugh when he talked about fighting her eldest brother. "That's impossible. He's far too powerful for that. You can use all your energy every bit of your life force to attack him, and be lucky to leave a gash. And as you die from exhaustion the last thing you'll see is the wound you made closing up as if it was there." Zil shivered a bit, "I've seen him do it before... totally brutal." Zil finally got to where she wanted to be and then then began to turn towards Go. She pulled out a marker and....

"Well... I was just going to draw some on, but I guess that'll do... Freak'in try hard." She whispered the last part under her breath. Go then started to talk about fight her brother as if he was really set on trying it. She smiled at him and then, "Not so much pride, as he'd have to. A formal challenge is a formal challenge, and he relishes them. Everyone respects him... even me honestly. He is decisive, brutally efficient and surgical in everything he does. He never lies... but you can never really trust anything he says. Damn... he's actually perfect to lead us, but... I don't like what he's doing. Trimming the fat, even if it may be the right choice. That's were the divide and this war stems from." Zilly explained to Go.

She looked at him with a smile, "No one knows what his true abilities are, as his never had to use them. He's powerful, and knows healing magic as far as I can tell. That's about all anyone knows. And yes if we die in human form we will revert back. That's part of the reason these Cullings happen at Night. Lot easier to bury a 3 story dragon in the cover of night." Zilly then sighed as Go seemed to be gathering information as if he was going to try and do something about the situation. She shook her head, and then sat down where she was. They were in a fairly large open area underground. It looked like the large of a giant beast, which wasn't far from the truth. Zill sighed, and her human form would fade away, and give birth to her true form.

She expanded out and covered nearly half the room as she curled herself around it. She was clearly still young relatively for her kind and was not fully grown. Her Human form much reflected her status among her family. "I'm not telling you all this to recruit you into some grand rebellion, to take down my brother. I'm telling you this to let you know how you being here is dangerous. We're going to wait here for awhile. until things die down, and then I'm getting you out of here." Zilly said as the sound her voice in her true form wasn't much different from her small human form. Only it seemed to echo strangely.

[Moon]

He listened intently to her explanation; healing magic, something he’d also hoped to learn one day, though his current training regimen couldn’t include such things until he found a suitable instructor. He did not at first reply. It was hard to comprehend a being of her stature and presence - revealed to him now as the tunnel emptied into a den wherein her true, serpent form emerged - planning to ‘lay low’ until the trouble passed. Her dark coloration was compelling to him, the white-blue glow of her eyes, the heavy plated scale revealing layered wings like wisps of smoke and aether.

She had given him the important information he needed, however. They did revert back to their true form upon death, and her brother would accept a direct challenge. Most likely, the others would not interfere. A serious expression came over Go’s face, as he stared up at Zilly’s true, majestic form, and he spoke with a tinge of pride, and of sadness, and of joy.

”You know, you...remind me of my sister. She is also fond of telling me how dumb I am.”

He stretched his body, letting his bones pop and settle.

”But she told me something else too.”

His hand removed Moon Slaying World from its sheath and stared at the strangely colored metal of its blade. The aura in the room, the spiritual pressure of the moment, intensified suddenly, emanated in chakra-like waves from the resolve of the Chosen One. His golden eyes reflected the wavering blue strangely, made an emerald glow that seemed enhanced, unnaturally, somehow, now glowing with light. At the sides of his head; what usually seemed like only ornate stylization of the horn revealed itself to be six horns, three on each side of his head, each now glowing like the Blade. They cast a strange black-gold light that blended with that cast by the sword, overlapping, bathing the cavernous tunnel opening in a strobe-like display.

”She said, ‘Do what you want, when you want. Not in an effort to deny your destiny, but just because it is what you feel will give you happiness in that moment.’”

He sheathed the sword quickly, his horns fading. He raised the other hand and closed his fist tightly.

”What I want to do, what will give me happiness in this moment…”

His voice raised.

”...is making your brother regret the disrespect he has shown towards you, and towards your mother’s memory. Perhaps it is because I am too dumb, but I do not care how powerful he nor anyone else is. For tarnishing what it means to be family, for the crime of a brother forcing his sister to hide from him…

And his tone darkened, became more menacing, was tainted with barely restrained violence at the utterance of each word.

”...he will not be forgiven.”

He would turn to exit the tunnel, clearing his thoughts of distraction, allowing his innate sensory ability to envelop his mind, his ‘mind’s eye’. He set for himself a goal₁, (Zilly’s brother, epicenter of the Culling), and knew then that no force in the world could cause him to deviate from the path leading to it. He peered back, hands gripping the tunnel sides, nodding and smiling now, lightly, in Zilly’s direction.

”You do not have to come with me, you may need time to mourn. I always find what I am looking for, so there is no need to worry. I will return when I have put an end to all this. ”

If she did not object to his departure, he would set off to find her Elder Brother.

SPOILER: Click to show

Pathfinder.

[Madame Loki]

Zilly sighed as Go seemed to be determined to go get himself killed. "Fine, whatever... But you won't be able to get out unless I open the door, and I'm tired. So I'm going to rest here for about an hour." Her body would curl up and she rested her head on the ground. "There's plenty of time. They'll head to where that huge fight was taking place first. Those two that were fighting before are very strong. Only my eldest brother is stronger than them for sure. So maybe if we're lucky, those two can tire out most of them. So you'd be waiting on your turn anyway." Zilly wasn't sure if Go was going to listen to reason, he was clearly set on going after her brother. She wasn't going to tell someone how to throw away there lives, but he needed to be some what smart about it.

"So sit down, billy badass... and think through your next move... carefully. What if one of my brother's followers challenges you? What if they find out you're not actually part of the family, and deny your challenge? What name are you going to use for the challenge? Do you even know our Family name? You need to present yourself if you're going challenge anyone... how's your acting?" Zilly unleashed a question barrage at the overzealous Dragonkin. They were all important questions, as a challenge for an outsider could very well fall on deaf ears, and they all could just kill him where he stood. He needed to think this through carefully.

[Moon]

Go's overwhelming chakra aura instantly fizzled out, his face gaining a look that suggested confusion. It was indeed possible that the great Dragon...had not considered any of the points Zilly mentioned. He briefly considered turning intangible and shunting through the ground or ceiling, ignoring the door completely, but it also seemed like perhaps his new companion had suffered more damage than she let on. He followed her suggestion and sat down immediately where he was standing, close enough to get a good view of her enormous serpentine armor-plating fill the room. The veins at the side of his eyes bulged ¹ as a sweep of chakra radiated brightness defining dragon-like internal structures that could only be perceived beneath vision.

"There is much I must learn, I suppose, before I can confront your brother. But that can wait until you have had some rest. Besides, my sister would resurrect me and kill me again if I ended up dying."

He leaned his back against the cave door, his eyes closing though with his Byakugan active he saw through his eyelids, and would vigilantly keep watch the entirety of the time Zilly slept. As Go had never slept himself, he analyzed her as she took in deep breaths, and exhaled in gusts that ruffled his thin clothing. He considered the points she'd brought up.


He needed to know more about this Quetzlcoatl clan and its customs, that was for sure. He also needed to know if there was some way to circumvent being challenged by one of the other brothers; he couldn't afford to waste time getting injured. If the eldest was as powerful as Zilly believed, it would be more advantageous to fight him at full strength. However, it felt highly unlikely he'd able to overpower the eldest; he would have to trick him somehow into defeat. He also knew that he had no ability to act or perform anything that was not the truth, and no talent in lying to accomplish a goal. His path was always the most direct, it was a fundamental aspect of his being.

They return to their original bodies upon death.

"If I could get him to fight me in his true form from the beginning.."

The thought prickled the back of his mind and plans formulated by the hundreds as Zilly rested.

[Madame Loki]

A hour as the sounds of battle raged above them, but it didn't seem to bother Zilly any as she was sound asleep for that hour. She finally woke up looking at Go, her body began to recede and curl in on itself as her form changed back to her human form. She stretched out her body, and then cracked her neck. She started to walk forward with a smile on her face. After everything she just said, she seemed to be remarkably calm and nonchalant. "Alright Go... let's ah... go." She opened up the door and then walked through the passage way that would take them outside. She looked over her shoulder, "So you come up with any ideas Billy?" Zilly asked as she pushed the pathway opened and the two of them found themselves outside once again.

[Moon]

"Well, that depends on a few factors. Namely; do Quetzlcoatl choke? If a human were to hide in your mouth while you were in your true form, and unaware, you attempted to take human form, would your head explode? Would the human die? If you were to attempt to swallow your brother whole while you were both in your true forms, would you suffocate?"

He began, as they took to the city only an hour later. Out the doorway the dark of night greeted them, but for the moment there was an ebb in the intensity of noise from before. His Byakugan would survey their surroundings, searching for the signs of others, hoping Zilly would also explain about her people, her family, what he would need to make a formal challenge uninterrupted.

"Do you want to lead your family as well? What will you do if I can defeat your brother, what is next?"

On the assumption further travel would not present unnecessary delay or danger, they would move, his internal sensory proficiency allowing him to intuit the proper direction, though out of respect, he would allow Zilly to lead him if she so wished. The struggle for power was such a universal thing, but it suggested some hidden weakness in all beings, the feeling of inadequacy that leads one to yearn for more than what they are capable of in the present moment. His scales bristled in anticipation, and he felt the too familiar bloodlust as he calmed it in his mind. He wanted to be free of its influence as well.

Onwards, towards the epicenter. Stealthily, hidden, along shadow and through open roughs of metal. Grinding through the night.

[Madame Loki]

"I've actually seen that happen before. The human was just sort of like, ejected out of the mouth as they transformed? It was funny. As far as devouring my brother. That's impossible, he's way to big in his true form to try something like that." She looked back over at Go, as he asked her if she wanted to lead her family, she started to laugh in his face. As she laughed Go's eyes would notice that there was still fighting going on. But the two there where fighting before were not fighting each other. They were fighting 4 individuals together. There was still 9 individuals not fighting. Zilly rubbed her eyes wiping the tears away, "No... I don't want to lead, I don't want to follow... honestly I don't even want to be here. I just... want to be. Know what I mean?"

Ziilly just wanted to be free to do her own thing to explore the world. She didn't care about any of this non-sense. Although as long as she was stuck her, she was going to make sure things where as comfortable for her as possible. Everyone trying to kill everyone else made thing a little more than stressful. Zilly didn't take off into the sky, she instead decided to book it on foot. Flying in the sky would make them to easy to spot and she wanted to get as close to them as possible before Go issued to challenge. "The one you want to challenge will be the one with the smug look on his face, in the trench coat. His name is Itzcali. Still think challenging him bad idea."

[Moon]

Her laughter was unexpected, but still comforting in a bizarre way. Her resilience to the shock of all that was occurring was not lost on the Dragon, and as she answered him, his focus was already towards her gathered siblings.

He empathized with her expressed sentiment; he too simply wanted to 'be'.

Hmmm. Seven of his plans had to be discarded immediately; if he were to be harmlessly ejected (or even not so harmlessly) at her brother's discretion, then he would not be able to stay within her brother's body long enough to carry out particular goals. However, if it were impossible for her to swallow her brother, then it meant that the physics of swallowing were still the same for these creatures. They still had throats and lungs and a maximum distance their mouths could expand. They still needed to breathe.


"Is there any condition in which you CAN'T turn into your true form, or CAN'T turn into your human form?"

He wanted to be considerate of her concern, but he could not help chuckling in response to her trepidation.

"You think challenging him is a bad idea, because he is so powerful, so clever, because the advantages are all his. To me, that is the only reason to challenge someone."

He would, following what seemed like her established habit, keep himself low to the ground, allowing the sounds of chaos around them to swallow up any errant noise they made. Concealed in the shadow of ruin, the pair looked upon a shifting group of combatants. The two from before were facing off against four others. Nine did not move, did not fight; only watched and waited. He wondered

"Is there anything else I should know?"

His body literally ached with his desire for battle.